Lavina

[Numanoid]

Ruby peppermint, Moroccan white mint, red currant, wild plum, neroli, green tea, and cassis.

OOh....the first!! All right...


Sniff: In decant....nice, light, minty and a hair fruity!

On Skin: Fruitiness fades a bit....there is that same mintiness, but it is turning into more of a menthol. Kind of reminds me of fancy Pine-Sol.

Drydown: Stays about the same. Not a strong throw. Very pale mint and a hint of some fruit to it. Kind of not a good explanation, but don't think this is for me. Still reminds me of a sort of cleaner.

[ReallyZeb]

Strongly minty when wet - and I could have sworn that there was lime in it.

 

It dries down to a milder mint with a citrussy edge but now I can pick up the currant and cassis too ... the best thing I can think of is one of those long cool summer fruit punch drinks crammed full of fresh mint leaves. I like it a lot but will hoard it for summer

[stellamaris]

Minty minty summer juice.

[zankoku_zen]

A strong blast of peppermint gives way to currants and cassis. This ends up going from a minty blend to a dark, fruity, spicy blend.

 

I'm actually not that fond of cassis, so I think I'll pass this on to a more loving home.

[TheIceMaiden]

This starts off with the two mints, one very sweet like the Lick It scents and the other more herbal, like garden mint. Underneath all the mint I can pick out green tea and a bit of neroli. This dries down to a dark fruity blend, somewhat similar to Alice's Evidence, with a hint of mint. The throw seems to be moderate-to-light.

 

I am a huge fan of minty scents, and I like fruit too, so I am very much enjoying this scent so far.

[JasminDreams2010]

Lavina is nice! I am not generally a fan of "fresh" scents- give me smutty resins, incense and deep florals. But, I have four "fresher" scents that I turn to when I want to feel "breezy" - which, I admit is not often. This is one of them; the others are Fairy Bites, The East, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat.

Lavina is definitely in that scent family. If you like any of those other three, this might be worth the splurge. I am totally curious about the bath oil and hair gloss.

It smells like a fruity cocktail. I was tempted to swap or sell it out, but remembered that I turn to these scents usually in hot summer, or the dark nights of winter when I'm wishing I'm on a tropical island somewhere. No backup bottle, but I'm hanging onto it and will return when it's once again seasonally appropriate.

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: Neroli is the most prominent note, and I am also detecting the plum and the currant. The mint is there, but it is not nearly as prominent as I thought it would be. I don't think I am going to like this.

 

Wet: The neroli is the dominant note, and as a result, I am reminded of the white part of orange peels and a neroli-dominant Lush product that I didn't like. The mint is starting to come out more over time, though, and I welcome its presence.

 

Sadly, the mint isn't able to overtake the neroli. Damn.

 

Dry: Minty neroli. I can't help but to think of something one might take or drink to help combat a cold.

 

Verdict: This blend just reinforced the fact that I really do not like neroli. I am going to have to go wash this off. I will not be keeping the decant.

Edited November 15, 2013 by dementia_divine

[astarinel]

Herbal mint with green tea. I don't really get the fruity notes at all, so this ends up being a little too bitter and green for my taste.

 

Definitely fresh and green, not really for me.

[asciident]

Wet: Crisp green tea; minty and clean.

 

First on: Still minty. Less tea at this point. It’s a bit sharp.

 

Dry: Sharp mint green tea. It’s a nice scent, but I don’t think it’s really me.

 

 

[brilliantcat]

Minty, fresh, and clean at first sniff. I know mint doesn't usually last long on me though, my skin loves it as much as I do and drinks it up. I love how it smells freshly applied though, and maybe I'll be lucky and the mint will last. Sadly, the fruit never develops and it ends up going slightly aquatic and reminds me of men's commercial cologne. I love you mint, why do you do this to me?

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Lots of mint, with a hint of sweetness from the fruit.

 

Wet: More mint, less sweet fruit goodness.

 

The dry-down: In the end, faint fruit and mint.

[Akurarei]

In the bottle:

Quite strong berry note

 

On my Skin, Wet:

Still very berry, but there's also a dirty mint note

 

On my Skin, Dry:

Dirty minty fruits

 

Verdict:

Not sure - it's by no means a 'bad' scent, but it's not what I was looking for either...

[milo]

Lots of mint here, not surprisingly:) It has a 'red' feel to it though, like a red-currant or huckleberry along with the mint. It's a lovely warm weather scent, and I'll definitely use the imp then. I have other minty scents I like more, though so an upgrade is not necessary.

[mymymai]

ITB: I get clean, white mint, followed by currant, plum, green tea, and neroli. If I were to choose a color to describe the scent, it reminds me of antifreeze green.

 

Wet: It's very clearly the same as in the bottle, but the peppermint stopped by for the second, followed by the cassis, which is making itself known. The plum paired with the mint and neroli lends a sweet but refreshing tone to the scent. It's a very cool one, though.

 

Dry: As it starts to settle, the scent reminds me of a combination of Lush's Avobath and Karma (but without the orange). After a couple of hours, the scent is clean peppermint, mint, a touch of neroli, tea, and plum. It's pleasant, relaxing, and refreshing at the same time.

[Missy_killer]

In the bottle: Menthol and red berries, quickly sweetened by a more sugary mint (candy cane?)

 

On: Bright mint/menthol that clears the back of my throat, probably a great scent for when you feel a cold on its way. After about a minute it smells like an exact dupe of Lush's Snowdrop bathbomb, which funnily enough is citrus and mint and nothing else. I don't get any currants or plums so far.

 

I've tested Lavina twice since I got her, and both the reviews I've tried to write ended like this. She doesn't morph, she doesn't do a lot of noise either. She's quiet and close to my skin, nice and friendly. Minty and citrusy.

[Psuke]

Received in a swap

 

I like the fruit note. I like it a lot. There's also a bit of dirty note - probably from the neroli - that keeps it from being too sweet. I'm not entirely sold on the mint, though. I see how it's meant to add an electric note? And it kind of does...but there's also kind of a Tom's of Maine toothpaste vibe going on.

 

I think I need to live with this a bit more and see how I decide the mint goes.

[Little Bird]

Sharp mint and intensely sour, tart, red currant and sharp, citrusy green tea. Reminds me of Smell Bent's Mama Cassis in the drydown, which is like a weird toothpaste smell + fruit that doesn't seem to mesh together well for me.

[fairybites]

Minty green tea, heavily mint in the initial wet stage. As it dries down the mint fades considerably and I'm left with a soft green tea with hints of cassis. 

 

Not the best mint I've tried, but the mint and tea combination is nice! Wish it had a stronger throw, but all things considered this is beautiful. I didn't get any of the currant or plum, but considering the age of this I'm not too surprised. 

[ShadowEtienne]

On wet, this was all wild plum and white mint. It was a good start, but not the level of complexity I'd hoped for. 

 

As it settled in, the cassis and red currant unfolded, wonderfully tart and juicy, rounding out the fruity elements of the wild plum. 

 

The green tea, peppermint, and neroli are soft in this, and take a little while to show up to the party, but they mesh really well with the white mint, balancing it out, and giving it floral and herbal depth. Altogether, they lend a certain airiness to the scent that I love.

 

I like all the stages of this so far, but I'm really most pleased with the balance that it's settling into: tart and fruity and minty with tea and floral, and nothing too sweet. I'm really glad that I landed a bottle of this off the lab's eBay.